Two Crows Watch from the Gallows Tree (part 4)

(I love how awkward gift exchanges are)

Tomhas nodded, impressed; it looked like bear fur trimming the edges of the blankets.

(Haha same! I love how Tomhas is just like yes, yes, very good — good choices, yes)

Ky chose one of the packages that looked like it may contain a book and opened it next

Lyra raised her hand. "That's from me." The book was bound in new leather and had golden lettering that read, "The Complete Poems of Capo the Wanderer."

(Capo was a Totallisa nomad that went basically everywhere in the world and wrote poems about the things he saw. Lots of complex emotion in a few very short stanzas, not quite like Basho's haikus but reminiscent of that mindset)

Ky gasped slightly, grinning at her. “I’ve heard of him! This will be so lovely to read, thank you!”

Lyra dipped her head, smiling. "I hope so. He's one of my favorites."

Ky returned the smile for a moment, then stood up and chose the very flat package.

"This is from me and Ka'Nor," Tomhas said eagerly, leaning forward. Ka'Nor Wai, brother to General Wai and son of D'Ara, was seated nearby and he, too leaned forward in anticipation, stroking his beard.
The box had a velvet interior, which held a decorated leather sheath and belt. The sheath was not empty, though.

(It's a very lovely bastard sword which is like a longsword but smaller. It has topaz on the pummel and is very shiny, with ornate little designs like vines imprinted on the hilt and handle.)

Ky gasped, hand instinctively curling around the hilt with a strong impulse to pick it up. Then she thought better of it. Probably best not to start swinging around a sword around people who barely knew her, not to mention all the tiny children. She took her hand away. Then couldn’t stand it anymore and ran her fingers across the designs.

“It’s beautiful!” She looked up with a grin, first at Tomhas then at Ka’Nor. “Thank you!”

Zander raised his eyebrows. Well [i]that[/s] was a new difference between old Ky and new Ky. He hadn’t expected it. But he also didn’t disapprove. It was probably good for her to be able to defend herself.

Both men grinned.
"It's high time you had a weapon of your own," Ka'Nor told her. "We both thought this would be a fine gift. It's as sharp and swift as you are."

Ky blushed at the compliment, then looked back at the sword, committing the details to memory. “It’s so wonderful.”

Tomhas shifted, looking excitedly at Anneke, who smiled at him in return. He'd really hoped she would like it, that it wouldn't be any sort of grim reminder. He hoped his other gift went over just as well.

Ky finally pulled herself together and went for another of the books.

This was a stack of three, each one bound in a different shade of green velvet with gold leaf set in each one in the shape of a sword, a Taral circlet, and a wild horse. On the spines was the title in Akarataran: "Beyond Me, The Story of My Travels and Trials." The author was Tarala Talia, a Southern monarch from over a century ago.
"The text itself is approximately 142 years old," Gaous informed her quietly. "It had to be rebound about twenty years ago, but those are the original manuscripts."

(Tarala Talia was a feminist icon, a warrior queen, and a spokeswoman for justice. Greatly respected and a bit controversial, but generally beloved. Ky may or may not have heard of her)

Ky smiled before she even finished reading the title, pleased at a more familiar language. She was comfortable in Upper Tongue and was fluent reading and writing it — but there was a certain joy to having something closer to her native language. Nostalgia.

“Thank you,” she said, smiling at him. It was a thoughtful gift. She wouldn’t be able to use any of these gifts at all. Well, okay, she’d read Lyra’s book. But the necklace was too expensive to wear; sword too beautiful to beat off another sword; saddle too fine to soil — and now a text too old to risk ruining by reading. “Who is this?”

"A famous queen of the Southern Realm," Gaius replied. "She was the first to actually outlaw slavery completely in her Realm during her reign and championed women's rights. She was very progressive in the tolerance of nomadic tribes, worked to provide relief efforts to Eastern refugees, and traveled the continent fighting for the protection of those abused by their rulers. She negotiated many peace treaties."